Farahany featured in “Brains on Trial” series on neuroscience and law, hosted by Alan Alda

September 9, 2013Duke Law News

Professor Nita Farahany is featured prominently in the forthcoming PBS documentary series “Brains on Trial,” hosted by actor and science journalist Alan Alda.

Farahany serves as Alda’s legal and bioethical correspondent throughout the two-part series that examines the question of whether emerging brain-scanning technology might become courtroom evidence about a person's state of mind, thoughts and memories. She even underwent an MRI for the series, which will air at 10 p.m. ET on Sept. 11 and Sept. 18 on PBS-affiliate stations.

A leading scholar on the ethical, legal, and social implications of biosciences and emerging technologies, particularly those related to neuroscience and behavioral genetics, Farahany is a member of the Presidential Commission for the study of Bioethical Issues. She holds joint appointments at Duke Law School and Duke University’s Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy and a secondary appointment in the Department of Philosophy. She received her AB in genetics, cell, and developmental biology at Dartmouth College, a JD and MA from Duke University, as well as a PhD in philosophy; her dissertation was entitled “Rediscovering Criminal Responsibility through Behavioral Genetics.” Farahany also holds an ALM in biology from Harvard University.

Alda will lead a discussion in the Nasher Museum Auditorium about neuroscience and the law with Farahany and Duke professors Scott Huettel, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Ahmad Hariri on Sept. 11. The invitation-only event, sponsored by Duke University, is being taped by UNC-TV for broadcast at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12.